Supporting MPN Voice

Class will be supporting Arthur Tua with a donation who is running a half marathon in London and raising funds for MPN Voice

Arthur's story

In 2002, I was diagnosed with Polycythaemia, a myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN), which transformed to myelofibrosis in 2012. My health deteriorated very rapidly and in June 2013, I underwent a successful stem cell transplant. I relapsed in May 2016, which saw an even faster deterioration of my health. I underwent treatment in the form of donor lymphocyte infusions between July 2016 and December 2016 and was again returned to full health and started feeling quite well in the spring of 2017. I was advised to start walking but having been a long distance runner in the past I quickly shifted from walking to running and by late summer I was running up to 8k, 2 to 3 times a week. My friends encouraged me to enrol for a local 10k run, which I did. My friends were also pushing me to go back to running a half marathon.

Following my initial diagnosis, MPN Voice, a support charity for my condition, was always a point of reference and solace. If I was going to run a half marathon, I would run a half marathon in London and help MPN Voice. I wanted to return something small to MPN Voice and to also hopefully provide some encouragement to other people with the same condition.